Free
by Just Lucy
Summary: HarryGinny.  Missing moment from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  The war had just ended, they had lost too many people, she had lost a very special brother, but all he could think of was how beautiful she looked right now.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own them – JKR does. I just can't help loving them.

**AN:** After reading DH, this scene didn't stop playing in my head, so I had to write it. English is not my first language, so, please, try not to hate any mistakes you'll find here.

Huge thanks to **Harmony** for reading and correcting it for me! -)

**Free**

He wasn't kidding about being tired. He felt like he hadn't slept in days and, when thinking about it, he realized he hadn't. Between breaking into Gringotts and then going to Hogwarts to fight he hadn't exactly had time to sleep. Or even to think about resting a little. Now, he thought, he surely could sleep for ages. There was nothing to worry about – and that, he sighed, was the weirdest feeling ever.

After the much needed talk with Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore's portrait, he had voiced his desire to go to Gryffindor tower to rest for awhile. Ron and Hermione seemed to have other things in mind, so he decided to let them do whatever they wanted to do (he made a mental note to tease his friends about everything later, now didn't seem like the best time) and he headed to the tower, contemplating his surroundings and all that had happened.

Hogwarts was, for the most part, standing. The war had been rough on the Castle, but it would take more than Voldemort and his Death Eaters to finish it. He knew renovations would be much needed, but he was sure the school would be ready for the beginning of the next school year. And this time, even without Dumbledore's presence, things would be perfect again, he was sure of it.

He had just spotted the Fat Lady when he realized he didn't know the password to enter the common room. He looked around, hoping he would see a fellow Gryffindor to help him and started to form a very persuasive speech to convince the portrait, but he didn't need to say a word. Once the Fat Lady noticed who he was, the portrait opened without a word. For a minute there, Harry thought he had seen her doing some kind of bow to him, but he didn't want to think about it. Right now, all he wanted was some time alone.

The portrait had just closed behind him when he realized he wouldn't be able to satisfy his wish. He wasn't alone. She was standing next to the window, looking out with a sad expression. Her clothes were ripped in different places but she didn't seem seriously injured. Her red hair was falling down her shoulders and he couldn't help but stare. The war had just ended, they had lost too many people, she had lost a very special brother, but all he could think of was how beautiful she looked right now.

For a minute, which felt more like an hour, he didn't know what to do. He realized she had sought the same peace and solitude he had, and they had ended up at the same place. Now he was unsure if he should say something or just leave. Or just stand there and look at her. He could look at her for a very long time, actually. He should say something. Anything. But what?

Maybe she had heard him breathing. Maybe she had sensed his presence. The fact was that he had barely opened his mouth to call her name, and she had already turned her head to look at him. Her brown eyes that had been wearing the saddest expression when he had entered the common room sparkled a little like they used to. And then she flung herself into his arms.

"Harry!" She whispered, half laughing and half crying and he just hugged her fiercely.

"Hey, Ginny." He whispered back. She broke the hug to look at him, but neither of them let the other go completely. Their arms were still around each other while they carefully examined their faces, searching not for bruises or scars, but for the feeling they were sure to find there. "I'm sorry to intrude; I didn't know you were here…"

"You're not intruding, Harry." She gave him a sad smile and leaned into his chest again. "Things in the Great Hall were too intense. I wanted some peace and silence, you know?" Her voice was muffled as she talked into his chest, but they didn't seem to mind. "Maybe I knew you would come here eventually…" He didn't say anything, just hugged her more fiercely. "Are you…" She pulled back again, her brown eyes dark with worries "Are you okay, Harry? For a moment there I thought…"

"I know, Ginny, and I'm sorry. I know it was scary, but it had to happen like that. He had to think I was dead and so did you. Or it wouldn't work like it should." He sighed, playing with a strand of her hair. "But I'm fine now. You don't have to worry about me anymore…"

"I will always worry about you, Harry. I can't help it anymore." What he saw in her eyes in that exact moment broke his heart and made it whole again in just a second. "But you're tired and you came here to rest." She started to break the hug, but he didn't let her go. "Harry, you look like you haven't slept in days. You're exhausted. We have all the time in the world…" Her voice was soothing and Harry felt his heart warm just by the sound of it. But he wasn't ready to let her go.

"Yes, I'm tired. And, yes, I came here to be alone. But now I want you to stay with me. Just for a while. Please?" He hadn't intended to sound so childish; he just didn't want to be away from her again. She nodded, smiling a little, and took his hand, guiding him to the couch. "Thanks" He whispered, pulling her closer to him. They didn't talk, both enjoying a quiet time together. After a while, Harry felt Ginny shaking in his arms and realized she was crying. "Ginny?"

"I'm sorry, Harry, I guess I'm just so… sad." Her voice broke with each word she spoke and Harry could see how broken she was. "There's so much pain around here. So much death." Her voice broke again and she buried her face in his chest. "When we were fighting, there wasn't much time to think about it. But now it's so real. And so unfair." She sighed, not moving from her position in his arms "Tonks was such a good friend. And Lupin was always one of my favorites. And they were so happy, Harry, you didn't see them with little Teddy. They didn't deserve this, it's too soon!" Her voice now sounded more angry than sad and Harry just tightened his arms around her, not saying anything. "And Fred…"

Harry closed his eyes at this, watching the twin's death all over again is his head. Fred, always cheerful, always willing to make a joke. Fred, who used to be such a strength in the darkest of the times. What would happen with George now? No more Gred and Forge. And all because of…

"It's not your fault, Harry." Ginny voice was soft and he looked down at her to meet her brown eyes. He wondered if she had felt the tension is his embrace or had noticed the change is his expression. Apparently, she knew him better than he imagined. "We're a huge family. There are nine of us, Harry; the odds of all us surviving a war this big were practically zero. Some of us could have died even if you weren't part of the family. I'm sure of that." She sighed again, looking away from him. "I just never imagined that Fred would be the one. We never think that someone so happy like him would have such a sad ending…"

"I'm sorry, Ginny. I was there, you know. We were fighting and he was making a joke about Percy and then… I'm so sorry. I wish I could have done something." Again, he tightened his arms around her, not knowing what else to say.

"You did something." She whispered and he barely heard here. "You're here…" And then, maybe remembering that, for a moment that night, she thought he would never be there again, she lost it. She cried harder than he had ever seen her, overwhelmed not only by the deaths of her loved ones, but by the feeling of being in Harry's arms after so much fear, after so much uncertainty.

It was rare for Ginny to break down like that; she had always seemed so strong. But Harry wasn't thinking about it, he just wanted to help her. He didn't say a word for a long while. He just sat with his arms around her body, caressing her arms, kissing her hair, while saying soothing words to try to calm her down. After a few minutes, her body wasn't shaking anymore and she breathed deeply.

"Feeling better already?" Harry asked, his voice barely a whisper. She nodded, but didn't seem too keen to leave her place in his arms. Her face was buried in his chest and while one of her hands was holding his robes tightly, the other one ventured to play with his hair in the back of his head. "Ginny?" Harry took a deep breath, suddenly nervous about what he was about to say. "I… while we were… I mean… I've missed you." Right, he had said it. The words had stumbled out of his mouth and he felt his face burn. Great, he was blushing.

"You did?" Her voice was soft and she was still playing with his hair, but she didn't move. "Good."

"Good?"

"Yeah. Because, you know," She pulled away from him, and looked into his eyes. "I've missed you too." She gave him a shy smile, before leaning into him once more. "I won't lie, though. I wasn't all happy about being left behind. It was awful to be able only to wonder, you know? 'I wonder what they are doing…', 'I wonder if he's alright…', 'Is he happy?', 'Does he think about me?', ' Will he ever come home?'. It wasn't the best feeling in the world…"

"I kinda do, Ginny. I used to wonder about you too. A lot."

"You did?"

"Yeah" He sighed, tightening his arms around her.

"When we heard you were at Bill's, I got into the biggest fight ever with my mum. I wanted so much to see you again. To make sure you were alright…"

"I don't think I would be able to leave if I had seen you there, Ginny." He confessed, in a whisper.

"What do you mean, Harry?" Ginny asked carefully, pulling away again. Her brown eyes were glued to his green ones

"Just what I said." He shrugged, knowing he wasn't making sense and feeling awfully nervous about what he was about to say. She was still looking into his eyes and for a second, he felt the urge to look away and change the subject. But he didn't. He had been brave enough to face Voldemort; he had been ready to die. He wasn't going to be afraid to talk about his feelings with her. "What I mean is that the only moments when I didn't think about the war and everything I was expected to be or to do, were the ones you were with me."

Now it was her time to blush, and he thought she had never seemed so adorable before. She seemed suddenly shy, but didn't look away. "Really?"

"Really. It felt like…" he sighed, wondering if it was really the time to talk about it. And then he remembered Ron's 'it's now or never' from earlier and decided to go ahead. "I'd never felt like that. For a while, I actually thought I was living someone else's life. And that soon I would have to let go…" His final words were barely a whisper and he looked down, sadly. "And I had to…"

"No, Harry, you didn't," she answered and waited for him to look up to her again. "You did it because you're a great guy, with a huge heart, and you were worried about me." He gave her a half smile and she half smiled back. "But it was all very real and it still is…"

"Is it?" Harry asked, suddenly aware of her closeness. But she didn't answer and he didn't seem to mind.

They leaned towards each other at the exact same moment, their lips meeting for a long-awaited kiss. It wasn't like any other kiss they'd shared. It hadn't the uncertainty and fire of the first ones, during their brief relationship at Hogwarts; neither the fear nor the despair of the stolen one, in Ginny's bedroom. It was a long, slow kiss, full of love and closeness and, for a while, the only thing that mattered was the feeling of them being there, alive and together.

They broke the kiss after a very long time, just because they needed to breathe. But there was, still, the need to be close, so Harry touched Ginny's forehead with his and opened his eyes, as Ginny did the same. They were aware, now, of the place they were and they hadn't forgotten the loss that had come with the end of the war. But they knew they would be alright.

Harry gave a small smile and kissed her again; quickly, but lovingly nonetheless. She gave a happy sigh into his mouth and snuggled into him.

"Comfortable?" He joked, after noticing how she had found a perfect spot in his arms. Her answer was a small nod and the most adorable sound Harry had ever heard. And he couldn't help it. "I love you, Ginny."

It was a whisper, but she had heard it. He felt her tensing a bit and for a while, he was afraid he had gone too far. But then she lifted her head and he saw tears in her eyes again. This time he was sure they were happy ones.

"You do?" She needed the reassurance and he repeated the words, closer to her ear this time. "I love you too, Harry. So much…" She lifted her head to kiss him again. "I never thought I would… we would…" She laughed a little. "I'm sounding crazy, I know, it's just that it's so great to hear it. Finally, after all this time…" Ginny sighed and got comfortable in his arms again.

Harry sighed too, tightening his arms around her. He was suddenly worried, remembering the people that had lost their lives, their loved ones. People were grieving downstairs and he should be there, saying sorry, coping with the idea that Fred, Lupin, Tonks and so many others had died because he hadn't been fast enough. Because he hadn't figured out what he had to do sooner. It wasn't right for him to be happy, wasn't it?

"What's wrong, Harry?" Ginny broke away from his embrace to look at him, guessing, one more time, what he was feeling.

"I'm feeling… weird." He tried to look down while he was talking, but he soon realized he wanted to look at her eyes. "I keep thinking of how unfair I'm being. So many people died today, Ginny. The war hasn't been over for more than a few hours and I'm… happy. Isn't it, I don't know, inappropriate?"

"I don't think so." Her brown eyes were darker and more serious than a few moments ago, when they had sparkled with his words of love. "Yes, people died and it's awfully sad. But we're still here. We're alive and we deserve to celebrate it. You, especially" She reached to his face and caressed him lovingly. "You're free, Harry. After all this time, you're finally free. And yes, we lost special people today, but you're a part of our lives and, in a way, I'm certain that we're all happy for you."

"But your family… how can they be…"

"Losing Fred is going to be hard. Awful. But you're part of the family too, Harry, you've always been. And it's important, to all of us, that you're fine."

Harry felt his eyes burning with tears. She was right, he was free. No more Dark Lord to fight. No more prophecy to fulfill. Only a life to live…

"I'm really free…" He whispered and leaned to kiss her one more time. He felt a small tear running down his cheek, but he wasn't embarrassed. He knew that if there was someone who would understand what he was feeling, it was Ginny.

"Harry…" She panted, breaking away from him. "Are you ever going to tell me exactly what happened? Not only today, but…"

"Yes, Ginny, I will. Everything, it's a promise." He pulled her closer, once more amazed by the adorable sound she made when she snuggled into his chest. "But can it wait? I'm really, really tired…"

"Of course it can." She smiled into his chest "After all, we have forever…" She whispered, and, close to fall asleep, he remembered the little girl that used to be all shy and blush around him. The little girl that, he had learned later, had spent years dreaming about a future with Harry Potter. And when he uttered a sleepy "Yes, we do", she blushed exactly like the little girl had blushed many times.

When the Gryffindor common room filled with people, a few hours later, the sight of Harry and Ginny sleeping in each other's arms was the reason for many smiles and deep sighs. They had waited long enough. And the best part of it was surely that it was only the first, of many times, they would see them like that…

**The end**


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